


There and Back Again

by rainydaysanddustybooks94



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-19 23:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14883171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainydaysanddustybooks94/pseuds/rainydaysanddustybooks94
Summary: John Orion was presumed dead, until he arrives at 12 Grimmauld Place just days after Harry Potter disappeared from his home, and Sirius Black was rescued from the Veil. Albus Dumbledore revealed he was in hiding, since that fateful night Lily and James Potter died. As they adjust to having John back in their life, Sirius and Remus start to wonder: what secrets is their friend hiding?





	There and Back Again

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, never shall be. I wrote this for fun; none of the characters, nor the general premise (i.e. world building) is mine. All of that belongs to J.K. Rowling. 
> 
> Additional Note: I wrote this chapter years ago, left alone, found it again and wanted to upload it because I actually quite like it. I probably will not write any more than this. Read at your own risk.

The Order of the Phoenix fell silent when Albus Dumbledore walked in, followed by another wizard wrapped in dark green robes. He looked extremely uncomfortable as every eye landed on him. 

“John Orion?” Minerva demanded, shocked. He’d last been seen in 1978, at a battle against Death Eaters. Remus exchanged shocked looks with Sirius. John had been their yearmate and close friend for their last two years of Hogwarts. Up until a couple of months before he vanished, Orion had been close friends with the Marauders and Lily. Those couple of months had seen him drawing away, becoming alternately clingy and distant. 

“Yes’m. I had to go into hiding, per Albus’ request,” John said carefully. “He contacted me the other day when Harry Potter vanished.” Sirius snarled, as he always did when his godson was mentioned. Remus could see the pain creasing his face. 

“Of course, you couldn’t have returned sooner to help, before he went missing.” John stared at Sirius, blood draining from his face. Remus winced at the horrible noise John made. Suddenly, his face twisted into a ferocious scowl, eyes paling to the color of the killing curse. 

“You- you- how DARE you impersonate,” John spluttered, drawing his wand. Everyone shouted in alarm at the rage on the wizard’s face. 

“John, no!” Albus cried out, summoning John’s wand. John spun on his heel. 

“That’s not Sirius! I saw him! He died!” John shrieked. Albus gripped his shoulders. 

“It’s okay, John. It is Sirius. He was pulled out; it’s really him,” he said urgently. John swayed, breath coming in quick bursts. 

“You’re-you’re lying,” he spluttered. “You’ve been confounded, you, you, that’s not- I SAW HIM FALL THROUGH THE VEIL OF DEATH. I, I SAW HIM.” Sirius deflated, eyes wide. Slowly, he stood up. 

“John,” he uttered quietly, pained. They all remembered their friend’s clairvoyant tendencies. John must have seen that momentary fall through the veil, and nothing else. “John, I was pulled out. The day Harry vanished.” In fact, he had been rescued just after Harry had vanished. No one had known Harry had vanished, until they went to the Dursleys to tell him, only to have Petunia inform them that he had received something in the mail and vanished in the kitchen during breakfast. 

“Sirius?” John uttered mournfully. Suddenly, he staggered over, falling into Sirius’ arms. Remus remembered the hugs John had given Lily and James when they’d returned safe from battle. This hug was nothing like those. Where he used to grip them in his arms tightly, laughing, and kissing their faces, this hug was more like John had lost all the bones in his body, except his hands. He hung in Sirius’ arms, shaking and clinging to his robes. John began sobbing, quick quiet sounds of pain. Sirius clutched him close.

Everyone who knew them remembered how Sirius and John had been inseparable, until that fated battle. It had been quite a shock to James at first, who had been Sirius’ brother in all but blood. Then suddenly, the boy with the eyes so dark they were almost black and short black hair, spiked in killing-curse-green dye had arrived, and Sirius and John might as well have been under a sticking charm. Remembering this, Remus was hardly surprised that John cried himself to sleep while they watched. Sirius carried John over, and carefully put John in Remus’ arms. The werewolf smiled gratefully. He needed the reassurance that one of their friends was actually alive. 

“Good Merlin, Albus. What the hell happened to him?” Severus whispered, shocked. Indeed, now that the drama was out of the way, it was easy to see that Orion had lost weight he couldn’t afford to lose, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Remus wondered when he’d had a good sleep. Albus sighed heavily.   
“I admit I hadn’t expected that when I brought him here…I forgot that when he had first arrived at Hogwarts, he seemed under the expectation that Sirius would die one day because of curtains.” Sirius’ eyes popped open. 

“Holy shit! I forgot about that! By Yule, I was jumping every time a curtain rustled. Finally, I think James pulled John aside and exploded. John stopped trying to train me to avoid curtains- rather hard to do, you know- and eventually, by summer, I was cured of any fear of curtains.” Remus stared at Sirius wide-eyed. 

“He knew about the Department of Mysteries even then?” he demanded. “How is that possible? He’s been thinking Sirius will die today for 20 years!” No wonder John had reacted the way he did. Albus shook his head. 

“I think I know, but that is…not relevant, anymore. I suggest we do not bring up such a sensitive topic. I do think that Mr. Orion appears ill because of him remaining in hiding. It was necessary, but I knew it was a blow when he could not come out after Halloween of ’81, or when Sirius was in Azkaban and you, Remus, alone, and Harry at the Dursleys. As I informed him of Harry’s years, he was chomping at the bit to leave- especially when I informed him of the end of third year- and when Voldemort rose,” Albus said slowly. Remus winced. 

“That would have killed John, to be alone, when he knew I was alone and Sirius was in Azkaban.” John had been close with Peter, but never as close as he was with Remus or Sirius. Oddly, he was closer with the two canines than he was with James, as well. 

“He never got to meet Harry,” Sirius said softly. Remus grimaced, inhaling sharply. 

“He might not be dead, Padfoot,” he said quietly. Sirius shook his head. 

“Not dead, but…Even Voldemort doesn’t know where he is,” Sirius said. “I’m not…I’m not giving up looking for him. He’s my godson. He’s James and Lily’s son.” Sirius’ voice cracked. “But…But. We should. We should focus on Voldemort.” For a while, they discussed updates on Voldemort, the Ministry, and creatures being wooed by Voldemort to join his forces. Albus wrapped up the meeting, and Sirius told Remus, 

“You can take John up to my room. I’ll sleep in your bed as Padfoot.” Remus nodded. 

“That sounds fine,” he said. Sirius followed him as Remus carefully laid John down, magicking his clothes into pajamas and removing his shoes. They left his wand under his pillow. Remus remembered all the times they’d scared him in the beginning, not realizing that his reflexes meant he cursed first. Many pillow fights had occurred after they figured out that tossing a pillow at him meant raining feathers moments later. Sirius chuckled, clearly on the same track of thought. 

“Goodnight, our good friend,” they whispered, shutting the door to let him rest. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

John blinked awake, confused. This room looked familiar, but it wasn’t his own bedroom. His eyes fell on the posters on the wall. Muggle women in bikinis, on motorbikes. Everything came rushing back. He doubled over, digging his nails into his thighs as he gasped for breath. 

Sirius was alive. 

He’d spent…over 20 years…thinking Sirius was dead. Well, not his Sirius, the Sirius he’d gone to school with, his best friend, but…John stumbled out of bed, leaving his wand behind as he blindly searched for Remus’ magical signature. When he found the room, John knocked on the door quietly. He didn’t want to wake everyone in the house because he was having a panic attack. The door swung open, and John tackled Remus in a hug, sobbing silently. To his surprise, he realized Remus was crying, too. 

“Hells, John, we thought you were dead,” the werewolf croaked. John snuffled into Remus’ thin Beatles t-shirt. It smelled like Remus, like wild magic, the woods after a good rain, and dusty paper. Remus pulled him inside, shutting the door, and John jumped a foot in the air as a dog whined at him. 

“Padfoot,” he said shakily. “Padfoot.” John swayed. Remus nudged John. 

“Come on,” he said roughly. “Get in the damn bed. It’s not the first time you’ve crawled into bed with one of us after one of your nightmares.” It wasn’t. By seventh year, not one night passed where John had slept alone. The Marauders had circulated nights. Even Lily, after she had started dating James, had shared a bed with him. James had been utterly jealous, until Lily had yelled that after everything, did he really think so little of her, that she would drop James like that. John had quietly informed James that he had only liked one person “like that” before, and it hadn’t lasted long, because John had realized he was only trying to cling to the memory of a person they both had known that had died. Sirius and James had thought John was extraordinarily abnormal for that, but in the end, it hadn’t really changed anything. Remus crawled into the bed after John, who immediately latched onto Remus. Padfoot made his way up the bed, until he was nosing their collarbones. He whined again. 

“I’m sorry I’m such a mess, Merlin. First time I’m seeing you in 17 years and I’m a blubbering mess,” John laughed weakly. Remus growled wetly. 

“John. I’m crying. We thought you were dead, like Lily and James,” he choked out. John buried his face in Remus’ shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry. It had to be done. Even after Voldemort supposedly died, I couldn’t return. I wanted to see you so badly, especially after I heard about Lily and James,” he said. Sirius changed from Padfoot, eliciting an ‘oof’ from both men. 

“John, it’s okay, we understand. Moony was just telling you- we’re all gonna be teary messes for a bit,” he said. John laughed. 

“God help the Order; they won’t know what hit them,” he joked. The other two snickered. 

“True enough,” Remus said. “Merlin- can you imagine Severus’ face if all three of us started crying in the middle of an argument?” Sirius laughed, too loudly; he clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“I should try that next time Snivellus says something about Harry. Just start crying.” John leaned back, looking uncomfortable. 

“I’m sorry about him,” he said carefully. Remus blinked at the look on his face. 

“John…Do you know something?” John shrugged, nodding, then shaking his head. 

“No…Yes…I don’t know. I know he’s safe, but I don’t know when he is,” he said, frowning. 

“When?” Sirius asked, sitting up. Remus grunted as the weight shifted over his knees. 

“Sorry, Moony.” 

“When what?” John asked, frown deepening. Sirius scowled. 

“You said you didn’t know when he is,” he quoted. John blinked twice, something passing across his face before Remus could pin down the emotion. 

“I did? That’s weird. Wouldn’t it be ‘where’?” he asked. Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. This had happened a few times before. It wasn’t often, but sometimes John would say something odd, and not remember saying it. Even seconds later, the man seemed to have no memory of saying anything. 

“So, time travel, maybe?” Remus suggested. Sirius shrugged, looking lost. 

“I hope not, or there’s no way for him to come back,” he said. Remus cringed. 

“I’m sorry,” John repeated. They hit him on the arms. 

“Shit, guys, okay, I understand,” he protested. 

“Then act like it,” Sirius said gruffly. John huffed, before dropping back against his pillow. 

“Tell me something I don’t know about you two,” he said tiredly. Remus chuckled quietly. 

“The first night after I left Hogwarts- I’m sure Albus told you I taught DADA for Harry’s third year- Sirius had found me, where I was living at the time. It was pouring rain and the mutt came in, hair so wet, I swear it was as heavy as the pile of blankets I kept on my bed.” John snickered, beginning to relax. “So Sirius is standing there in my kitchen, smelling like wet dog, and the first thing he says to me after I’ve found out about his innocence is, ‘Got any firewhiskey, Moony, old pal?’” John snorted. 

“I bet you loved that,” he said. Sirius laughed. 

“I was so nervous, and I was so afraid Remus would blame me for James and Lily, that I said the first thing that popped into my head,” he explained. Remus cuffed Sirius gently around the back of his head. 

“Like I would blame you, idiot. It was Pettigrew’s fault,” he said softly. Sirius smiled at him. “Anyways,” Remus continued, “I was so furious that he said that; I conjured up a newspaper and started swatting him with it around the head.” John thought of his two old friends, the girl swatting the boy, half-laughing, half-outraged. Shaking his head, he tuned back in to the story. 

“Sirius was dripping so badly, that when I took a step back, I slipped, and brought the two of us to the ground.” 

“It was dead quiet, and I was sure Remus would kick me out,” Sirius cut in. “I was terrified, really. It wasn’t funny then, but it’s hilarious now. So I’m lying half on top of Remus, who is now soaking wet, as well, when suddenly, Remus bursts into laughter.” 

“Scared Padfoot half to death. He jumped so high, he managed to fall about a foot away from me, half under the couch. After a moment of staring up at the couch, Sirius suddenly bursts into laughter. ‘That was slapstick comedy right there, just like Lily used to tell us about, on that muggle show,’ Sirius said. And I rolled over until I was next to Sirius, and I hugged him until we were both well on our way to icicles.” 

“We got up, and took turns showering, then we had soup, and I slept as Padfoot at the end of Remus’ bed. The nightmares were worse, then…” Sirius trailed off. 

“The nightmares are still bad,” John guessed quietly. Sirius nodded, shrugging. 

“Yeah, and this damn house isn’t helping,” he said. John’s nose wrinkled. 

“No, I would imagine not.” His gaze trailed away, resting on the wall. Remus and Sirius watched him zone out, retreating into himself. Carefully, John curled away from them. 

“It’ll be okay, John,” Remus murmured. John slowly sat up, facing away from them. 

“It won’t,” he said flatly. Sirius and Remus exchanged glances again. They couldn’t tell if it was a prediction, or if John was in one of his moods again. Sometimes, back then, John would stop everything, as if remembering something, and then he would shut down. Nothing they said could get through; they had to wait out John moving through life like a ghost. He would barely talk to anyone who crossed his path. One time, they’d found him lying in a ball in the Shrieking Shack, and he had to be taken to the Hospital Wing because he was all but catatonic. Scared James half to death the first time, and every time it had happened later, James had never left John’s side. Albus had taken their friend into his office several times, and that had always helped, but not much at all. Sirius rolled over until he was plastered all over John’s back. Remus sat down next to John, pressing close. 

“Come on, time to sleep,” Sirius whispered. John didn’t say anything, but followed obediently until he was curled up between them. It was a tight fit, until Remus expanded the bed with a wave of his wand. 

“Goodnight, John,” Remus said, hoping, but not expecting an answer. John blinked, but remained silent. Remus met Sirius’ eyes over their friend, and they wrapped their arms across without a word. 

“Goodnight, Moony,” Sirius finally sighed. 

“Goodnight, Padfoot.”


End file.
